Somewhere
by MissionKira
Summary: As I have gotten older I have learned to keep more and more from my aunt.I had lost the people hired by my aunt once and had gone to Jump City where I had learned everything of my past. I learned who my mother really was, but I still don't know who my father was.Rachel's been lying to me for quite some time, but I never knew how much she was hiding until now.
1. One

Raven has been missing for over 13 years. There has been no word from her or the others having ever found a trace of her. Beastboy, Starfire, and Cy haven't been able to find her either. We have been looking, but there is so much that we can do; too much time has passed, nothing was found at the tower but a battle. We had searched for days at the tower looking for an sign that she might be alive and out of harms way. We looked through everything, but there were no clues to be found. Cyborg, who now goes by Victor Stone, had looked with multiple scanners of his and found nothing hidden. He had even made a 'Raven Scanner' that would pick up anything that came from her; DNA, writing, coded messages, nothing was found. Starfire has been searching the other planets when nothing has been going on at her home planet.

The original Titans had split up soon after the destruction of The Brotherhood of Evil fiasco. Without serious threats to Jump, none of us saw a reason to stay, everyone but Raven.

_I frowned slightly when I looked at my team_. Looking back, we were all fools. Maybe if we weren't, we would have enjoyed our last times together._ Raven was reading her book, but I could tell that she was having difficulties because her dark purple hair was slightly moving around her. Starfire and Cyborgs mechanical eye would be able to pick it us, but they were in their own little worlds. She had decided about a month ago to grow it out and it now fell a little past her shoulders. She was floating above the couch cushion like she always was with her cape and body seemingly frozen in time, not moving even when someone or some object brushed against it._

_Cyborg and Beastboy were battling it out of the gaming station, which usually ended up in a fist fight. The little things that never bothered any of us before were slowly eating at us because of the inactivity. There was just so much that training could do. The city no longer needed us because most of the real threats were sealed away and made into ice beings. They were frozen in time and put into a special fault that wouldn't be able to be opened ever again. Without them, the police could handle the petty crimes. As far as we could tell, we were no longer needed. The first few weeks were great, but soon after we all started to get on each others nerves, blowing up at the little things and even Raven was much easier to annoy resulting in several broken bones and objects around the Tower._

_Starfire was looking at them all as well. Her green eyes glowed for a brief moment before she turned her head away and walked out of the room, unnoticed by the others I might add. Things were getting hard here and it was time for me to leave. If they wished to stay, it was fine by me, but I was going back to Gotham. I had always felt more peaceful there anyway._

_I frowned and closed my eyes. Opening them I saw Raven looking at me with sad eyes. I one of the five original communicators on the counter. It would activate when they were all in the same room and sane. Once it was done with the recorded message, it would find its way back to me one way or another. I looked back at Raven and held up my hand in farewell. Surprisingly she did the same. She closed the book she was reading and walked over to me._

_'I will miss you.' She said through the connection that we shared. I nodded to her and we went our separate ways._

Over time I had found out that the others went in similar ways, Starfire leaving without a goodbye, without a word of where she was going; we found out that she had left to help her sick father, later taking up the throne when he had passed, Beastboy and Victor battling it out until he went back to the Doom Patrol broken and bruised. About a year later Victor moved out after feeling like he was alone in the tower. He hadn't seen Raven for a month before then, knowing that she was in the tower, safe, but never answering him. I went over to try and get her out, but nothing worked.

I had returned to the only home that I have ever known, Gotham. I had arrived at my fathers door with nothing, deciding to leave everything behind and start fresh. I soon became Nightwing, the name that Starfire had said that I had taken up when she was taken to the future. Bruce had taken me back willingly and happily, for that I am very grateful.

"Richard. Your lost again." a voice from behind me sounds. I look up to see Bruce staring at me. I looked away from him concerned eyes and stance. He was holding a cup of hot chocolate. It was Alfred own recipe, the only hot chocolate that I would ever drink. He was still wearing his favorite suit with his black and blue swirl tie, meaning that he had come here right after work. He slowly walked over to me and handed me the black cup with my symbol on it. I frowned and looked down to see the steaming whipping cream.

"I cant help it." I whispered and looked up at him when I felt his hand reach up to touch my shoulder before it actually did. He smiled sadly and pulled out something from inside the lining of his jacket.

"I thought that you might like this. I found it in one of the old scrapbooks that you had sent me when you were still with the Titans." He said and walked away back out the door, which shut behind him, leaving me in the dim lighting of my room in the mansion of Bruce Wayne. It was a picture of Raven. I had taken it the first time that she had ever drank hot chocolate. I was the only one that had ever seen a real smile out of her. It was shortly after our bond was made when she entered my mind to stop Slade who turned out to be a hallucination, unrealized by me until it was almost to late. She had entered my room to see that I was alright. I had just gotten a package from Bruce and Alfred for my birthday that was the next day. She had watched me open it and smile. She had already known everything, seeing it in my mind the day before; the only reason that I let her stay. Alfred had made the hot chocolate and Bruce the container to keep it warm and safe. I had let her take the first couple of sips, quickly gotten my camera and had taken the shot. She was happy in the picture. One of the only times I had seen her truly happy, smiling even. A real Raven smile. I had only ever seen it one other time. When we had defeated Trigon.

The picture slipped from my fingers and fell to the ground. "Where are you Raven..." I said brokenheartedly as small tears fell from my eyes.

Bruce frowned as he moved away from the closed door of his adopted sons room as he heard him start to break down, fighting his own tears as he realized how much his son was hurting.


	2. Two

Somewhere Chapter 2

* * *

**Richard**

I closed my eyes and wiped away my tears. I took off my Nightwing suit and donned civilian clothing. Usually I would keep my costume on because after 10 pm most of the criminals like to come out and play about now, but I was in no mood to fight or do anything. I grabbed my wallet that was on my oak desk and walked down the many hallways. Alfred saw me, I knew, but neither of us said anything. It has been 13 years exactly since the day that Raven had been reporting missing according to the Titans Tower computer data base. Someone had broken into the tower and Raven put up a good fight, but there was nothing we could have done. We were all to far away and by the time that I had gotten there, it had been to late, two hours after my communicator alarm went off. I was the first one to arrive there. Starfire hadn't been able to arrive until several days after the search began. Cyborg had arrived shortly after I, him being at his collage in the next town over.

Beastboy wasn't able to come at all. He was under the command of the Doom Patrol now and according to his commander, nothing mattered from his old life. I am still able to be in contact with him every so often, when they are all away on a mission without him. Even after all this time, they still conciser him a rookie. A crappy commander and team if you ask me, but there is no way that he can leave it now. They put a tracker into his blood stream that Cyborg could get out, if only he could see him once. No one was allowed near him though. They have this possessive claim over him now and the only way to break it is by death. The tracker being removed will cause his body to shut down if cyborg doesn't have the right equipment at hand, or if he leaves, they find him and kill him themselves. He told me that if he knew that it would happen, he never would have gone back.

I shook my head trying to clear it and got onto my motorcycle . It was the only thing that I had taken when I left the Titans. It was now black; I had a similar one which I used for my Nightwing travels.

"Richard." Bruce said softly standing in front of me.

"Bruce." I said putting on my helmet.

"Be careful and don't drink. You know that you can't. Not in your condition and your past." He said looking me in the eyes. I nodded once and started my bike up, drove around him and rocketed away.

* * *

**Raven**

I closed my eyes as the aroma of my herbal tea hit my nose. It had the smell of mixed berries and something else that I could never put my finger on. It was my favorite fragrance in the coffee shop that I always come to when I want to think. I breathed in deeply and let everything float away from me, unseen and unheard; just how I like it. Rachel had said my mother had come here to think as well. I had discovered it when I was a child when I had run off. I was angry at my mother for something stupid, I didn't even remember what it was now that I think of it. I had ran in here to hide and the young female behind the counter had ran over to me and smiled.

"Hello Raven." She said softly and guided me over to a table. I didn't know or understand why I had decided to talk to the young women who knew me before I had even met her. It turned out that my mother had made very good friends with the red headed girl and had came into the coffee shop everyday just to talk to her and have tea while her grandfather, who owned the little shop that always got unnoticed by rushing civilians, worked.

My mother had come to know the small broken up family very well and became a second family to her, the first being her friends that she had lived with for a long time.

"Raven, your tea is getting cold." Samantha said next to my ear. I opened my eyes and looked out the glass window. This spot practically had my name on it, my mother having the one across from mine. No one ever sat here, and none of us knew why. I preferred it that way. I sighed as the little bell over the door rang signaling that the small coffee shop had another customer. I propped my head against my left hand and watched the cars drive by.

"One black coffee please and a Gotham news paper." The man ordered. I took a sip of my tea and got up, walking out of the door.

"See you Raven." Samantha said waving goodbye to me. I smiled slightly and waved back. I zipped up my light black jacket and brought up my hood as I continued to walk down the sidewalk. Gotham is no place for a girl my age to stop on the sidewalk, or anywhere for that matter. So many things could happen, I didn't even want to think about them.

Sadly, every time that I left the coffee shop I could never keep the aroma of my tea with me. It was like it wasn't allowed to ever leave. I sighed and frowned when I saw my breath. It was always cold in Gotham, I had learned from over my year of staying in this dark city. My aunt use to take me shopping here all the time with my mother and I and we had like it so much, that we had moved into an apartment building not to far from our coffee and tea get away, but even stepping outside to throw away your trash could get you killed in some parts. Mostly by the docks and where most of the major crimes are at.

"Raven!" I hear Samantha yell from the doorway of her shop. I jog back to the entrance and smiled brightly at the steaming cup in her hands. She held it out to me and I took it gladly.

"For the road." She said softly and kissed my cheek. I stared at her for a moment and nodded, starting my journey again. I don't know why, like most happenings in my life that turn out to change me in a very big way, I turned down one of the smaller alleyways that lead to my home.

* * *

**3rd person  
**

Richard's eyes scanned the rode for anything that might be lurking in the shadows when he spotted it. A raven. "Raven?" he asked aloud slightly shocked to see a raven at this time of night, and in the dwellings of bats. It crowed once and spread its black glistening wings that turned into a rainbow of colors when the light of his motorcycle hit it and ascended into the air, taking flight. He revved his engine and took off after the abnormal raven. It had a spark in its eye that wasn't there before he had said his lost best friends name. "Raven!" he shouted as he got close to the flying bird. As he was closing in on it and reached his hand out it just flew higher away from him. It looked back at him which something that he had thought birds have never done before.

"_Lost in the darkness, hoping for a sign. Instead there is only silence, cant you hear my screams._" a voice sings all around him. Unknown to him, it wasn't around him, but in his head. It was the song that Raven had sang down in the Underworld just before he had come upon her and frightened her. He frowned and looked around and saw no one. He looked down at the screen on his bike, but it was turned off. Richard closed his eyes and it was like a spark was ignited in his brain. The connection that he hadn't felt in over 13 years was back. It had always been there, in the back of his mind, dusty and unused for so long, he had forgotten that it was even there. It faded as soon as it had come. "No!" he yelled and stopped his bike. He had thought it was best before he or anyone else got hurt. His thoughts and emotions were everywhere and he had to gather his thoughts, but he could no longer follow the raven because it had flown away. He got off and fell to the wet ground, his hands bracing his fall.

"Hello?" a voice said from behind a brick wall. He looked up and saw... "Raven?" Richard whispered. Her eyes grew wide and she looked away from the man that knew her name, but she had never met him before, unbeknownst to him, moving back behind the protection of the wall like he was going to hurt her. He could have cursed. Richard had frightened her and he knew it. She looked no older then the day he last saw her. Younger even. How was that even possible? He supposed with Raven you never really know.

"No! No... its okay Raven." Richard said shakily and got to his slightly bruised knees.

"Who are you?" Raven asked the mysterious man. She noticed that he looked like a mess, kneeling down in the muddy water like that, water and mud splashed onto him; it covered half of his features.

"Don't you remember?" Richard asked the one person that knew him best beside his adopted father and Alfred. _Something is wrong..._ Richard thought to himself as he stood. He frowned at how tightly he saw Raven holding her cup of tea. She must have just come from the small coffee shop that was slowly going out of business. Bruce stopped by there every morning before he went to work, even if it was completely out of his way. He was thinking about giving a pretty good sized donation, just to see it stay.

"Why would I be asking if did?" Raven retorted and moved away from him again. "I have to leave. My mother will be very angry." She said and started to walk away. As far as the girl knew he was a stalker that just wanted to fulfill his sick and twisted fantasy.

"What are you talking about, Arell's dead Raven..." Richard said and cursed in his mind for saying that. He needed to gain control of the situation now. Before something happened that he couldn't fix.

"Who are you?!" Raven yelled turning around. Richard looked at Raven closely and frowned.

"Richard Grayson." Richard looked around and saw no one, felt no one near by. "Robin."

"Liar." Raven said angrily. "Richard Grayson isn't Robin."

"Yes I am. I was... I can prove it. Search my memories. Please Raven. Please I beg you. You must remember something!" Richard said desperate for her to understand. For her to remember anything. It had been to long since he had seen her. He was desperate for her to remember their friendship, anything that might help was good enough for him. As long as he had his best friend back, it was all that mattered.

"Raven! I have been looking for you everywhere!" Rachel yelled and ran over to her. "Where have you-" Rachel was cut off when she looked at Richard. "Raven run. Now!"

Raven didn't need to be told twice. She ran in the other direction her coffee cup exploding when it was surrounded by her black energy, effectively burning her hand. She held back her gasp and kept on running.

"What do you want Richard." Rachel asked glaring. "Raven doesn't know you. You need to leave." Rachel said walking away. "Don't follow us."

"I want answers!" Richard yelled.

"If you want the truth, you don't want to hear the answers that I will tell you. Don't go searching for her. She isn't your Raven." Rachel said sadly while looking back at the heartbroken man that looked so sad. "It's better this way Richard." She whipsered and disappeared the way that Raven had went.


	3. Three

**Richard**

_No!_ I thought to myself as I ran after them. _I have waited to long! I am not letting her go again!_ "Raven!" I screamed when I turned the corner. No one was there. My heart broke again. Soon, I knew, there wouldn't be anything left of it. I slowly fell to my knees for the second time that night. I had let her slip though my fingers and in doing so, allowed Rachel to interfere. No that's wrong! I didn't_ let_ her. She forced her way in.

Something thin and strong was wrapped around my neck. I had realized it just a little to late. There was something silver at the end of it to make it fly through the air, but that isn't all that it did. Once the thin, bendable cord was wrapped around my neck several times the silver object at the end clicked and locked into place. Once it did the cord pulled tight, effectively blocking my airways.

"Rachel told you to stay away. I expect you to follow your orders." a scratchy voice said from behind me. He pulled the cord tighter and I couldn't even make a sound if I wanted to. Bruce should be out on patrol right now. If only I could get to my cell phone in my pocket. I had a feeling this man wouldn't even let me move a muscle without his say so. My head was starting to feel light, but I knew that I could hold out for much longer. Bruce had once said that I could become a champion swimmer if I chose to.

"Do as you are told. Know that if you are unwilling to obey, you wont be left alive next time." He warned by tightening the cord even more, making it cut into my flesh. I felt the blood fall in small droplets like the ones you see on a car when it is raining and the droplets slide down the windows and it leaves a trail of where it had been, go down my neck and onto my white shirt which stained.

The cord loosened and unlocked. I fell to my keens putting pressure on my wound and breathing was slightly difficult. "Robin!" Raven yelled and ran over to me. There were small splashes as her feet hit the tiny puddles that were on the ground from the rain. I didn't remember when it had started to rain. I knew it wasn't when I was talking to Raven and Rachel. She knelt down, her eyes showing concern that I was the only one to see. "Are you hurt?" She asked softly and moved my hand away. She frowned and bit her bottom lip. It was something that I had seen her do when she was really concentrating. I doubted that any of my old team ever saw it.

"Raven..." I coughed slightly. It seems that the wound had effected my vocal cords. They were almost impossible to fix. I hope that they are not beyond repair.

"Don't speak. Come on, lets get you back to the tower." she said helping me up. It was then that I realized she was wearing her cloak.

"Richard. Its okay..." Batman said as he helped me up. I closed my eyes. It wasn't real.

"No!" I said falling limp. Batman slipped at the sudden dead wight and I fell on top of him. My head fell against his chest and my hands balled into fits, clutching at my shirt over my heart. It hurt so much. It felt like it was physically tearing at the seams that I had almost gotten healed from 13 years ago. When it shattered. "No, No... no... I don't care if I won't like the answers. I need them. I need Raven. I don't care if she isn't the same. I need her back. Bruce... please... please help me. I saw her. I saw her. She was younger looking but she was the same. The connection. The one that I told you about between me and her... it ignited again. It came back, it wasn't as strong as it was before, but it came out of its hiding place. Please I saw her. You have to believe me. You have to help me. Rachel, I saw it in her eyes. She hates me. I don't know why, but she does. She told me that if I wanted the truth told to me, then I wouldn't like the answers but I don't care. I just need her. I need her..."

"Sh..." Batman said softly and hugged me. I curled up into a ball in his lap like I had done when I was a child. I cried in front of him then. Something that I also haven't done since my childhood. "Its okay Richard." He said just as softly.

**Bruce**

He is so heartbroken. I have never seen him like this. He wasn't this bad when he had lost his parents. When he had lost them he shut himself out from the world. He didn't care about anything including himself. He didn't care what happened to him or anyone else. He once told me that if he died on a mission, he knew that no one would care because he had no one. It was then that I had decided to officially adopt him. We had decided for him to keep his original surname because even as Bruce Wayne, I still had enemies. It had taken two years after that for him to finally begin to open up and trust me. We had been living in the same house for ten and a half years before then. It was shortly after that when he had decided to leave Gotham. He had finally started to show his emotions around me, joke and eventually care for me, even if I knew he would have never admitted it back then. I knew that I could never replace his own father, and I wasn't trying to. I had felt sorry for him and taken him in. Even at four and a half it didn't take him long to figure out that I was Batman. He was already so intelligent that it didn't surprise me. I would have liked for him to have found out when he was old though.

Shortly after he left, I had learned that he had became a Teen Titan with four other members of his team. It was odd, how they all met, but they made a fantastic team and I was so happy for him to be around people his own age and come to care for them as well. I hadn't realized how much he cared for Raven until he had broken down. I knew that it wouldn't be easy. He was already heartbroken enough. He had already been through so much in such a short amount of time. He still had so much to give and offer in his life.

"Richard. I know it hurts." I whispered to him when he had calmed down enough to think rationally. "I know how much you love her, but you can't break down again. I have always told you to think with your head. Not with your heart. You seem to have forgotten that."

Richard sighed and rolled away from me and onto his back. By now all of the blood had dried and I could tell that the bleeding on his neck had stopped because the bandages that I had placed on him had not bled through. It wasn't deep and hopefully wouldn't leave a scar.

"I know." his voice sounded dead and I almost flinched at the sound. I have never heard him use this voice since he had come back from the Titans. " I am sorry." He said and stood. I stood and frowned. I wouldn't let him fall again.

Bang!

Richard coughed slightly and staggered back until he leaned against the brick wall for support. "What the hell was that for?!" Richard asked angrily coughing and clutching his chest where I had punched him.

"Your mad. That's good." I said smiling softly.

"Of course I am mad you-" he fell clutching his head. I caught him before he hit the ground and sighed softly. I needed to get him to Alfred. He must have a concussion and being out in the cold isn't helping. I pushed the button on my belt that made the Bat-mobile come to my location. I set him gently in the compartment and noticed that the tracker that he always wears on his person was missing. It was then that I thought of the only possible place it could be. With that in my mind I commanded the car to home. I would take the long way, but first I had to find out who Rachel was, and if Richard had actually seen her and Raven.

**Raven**

"Who was that?" I asked still clutching at my now cold tea. I had thrown the disposable lid away when I had arrived home, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Rachel came after me. The heartbroken look that the guy who calls himself Richard had looked at me with will haunt me for a while. I knew that. I knew that he honestly believed that I was the Raven he was looking for. I knew he was telling the truth about who he said that he was. I also knew that he was looking for my mother. Rachel doesn't know that I have found out about my mother being Raven of the Teen Titans. She doesn't know that I know that my mother didn't pass away at my birth. In fact, she had been very much alive until I was four. That was the reason that so many people knew me in Gotham. I had lived here with my mother.

I knew that Rachel had been lying to me for quite some time, but I have never found out why. It was little lies at first, like why I could never remember my mother. Why I had no photos of her. Why I get this feeling when I am angry or sad or my emotions are to high for me to handle sometimes. Why I feel many emotions that I know are not my own, but I have never told her that. As I have gotten older I have learned to keep more and more from my aunt. I realized that there were people following me everywhere I went, even without my aunt glued to my side. I have never seen them. But I have felt them. I had lost them one time and had gone to Jump City. It was a year ago when I was twelve and I had taken a boat out to the Titans tower. It was nothing but a few glass shards and metal. Most of it had been washed away into the surrounding area of Titans Tower. I had found nothing there but ghost of emotions.

"No one sweetie. Most likely a whack job. There are thousands in this city you know." She said seriously. There was once a time when I would have believed her. I use to believe anything that she said, but not now and definitely not with this.

"Your wrong Rachel!" I said and slammed my tea cup on the table effectively splattering it everywhere. If it was still hot it would have burned my whole arm.

"Raven!" Rachel yelled angrily. "Now look at what you have done. Get a towel and clean this up. After that go and take and shower and go to bed."

"I want to know the truth." I growled still looking at the table.

"I gave you the truth." She said sternly. "What has gotten into you? Where has my little girl gone?" She asked me sadly. I frowned and looked up at her.

"I am sorry aunty. I guess I am just really shaken up about what happened back there." I whispered and walked over her to hugging her around the waist like I usually do when I don't want to listen to her yell at me and tell me everything I do is wrong. It dose the trick just like always.

"I am sorry baby. I guess I am to. I just don't what to lose you is all. There is just so much that could happen to you in this city and if I didn't get that job and we didn't have our tea get away just down the street, I wouldn't have brought you here. I am just so worried about you all the time. What if he raped you, or killed you. What would I do then?" She said her voice cracking with emotion.

"I will get this cleaned up okay?" I said and broke away from her.

"Don't you worry about it baby. Aunty will clean it up. You just go and get your shower and go to sleep. You must be stressed with school and now this happens." She said worriedly. If I didn't know better, I would have guessed she had an identity disorder, but that wasn't the case.

"Thank you aunty. I am sorry again." I whispered and walked down the hall and got a towel form the linen closet that was by the bathroom door. I went into the bathroom and started the water. I took off my jacket that smelled of my favorite tea now thanks to my outburst. I would debate on washing it later or letting the scent linger for a while.

I quickly took off all my clothing and got into the shower. The small bathroom quickly filled with the scent of lavender. It was the only flower that I had seen growing around the Titans Tower when I had gone there. I knew from reading about plants when I was young that lavender is a calming scent and color. I imagined that it was planted all around there because of the harsh life a superhero lives. It was so stressful I would think, so it must have been nice when they were in full bloom. I breathed in deeply letting the smell surround me. It was the only thing that I looked forward to coming home. I tried to avoid coming home as much as possible, but if I wanted to remain on a low key I had to come home when Rachel wants me to. She has a daily schedule for me that I have to strictly follow. Its a pain in the ass but if it keeps her in the dark by me following her rules then so be it.

I finished up my shower quickly and touched right behind my ear as I was brushing my hair. I put on my pajamas that had been put on the counter by my aunt. I had felt her come in not to long after I had started my shower. She always did that. I hated it, but it was one of those things I never commented on.

I heard a slight beep noise, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Raven are you done with your shower?" Rachel yelled from the kitchen.

"Yes aunty!" I yelled back and went into my room.

There were a mixture of bright and dark colors. I couldn't paint the walls the way that I wanted because this is an apartment. We don't own it so we cant hang anything up. Its not like we have much anyway. My bed frame was black in color and my pillows and bed spread were rainbow themed. There wasn't much else in my room for now. We don't usually have money to buy brand new things. I walked over to my window after I shut and locked my door. I didn't turn on the lights. I didn't need to. It would just attract attention to unwanted people. Besides; the person I was trying to attract was a creature of the night. I opened my window and stepped out onto the fire escape like I usually do when I want to think and am not allowed to leave the house. I was usually only allowed to go to the coffee shop when Rachel was with me, but she had decided that I could go on my own just that one time. See how everything went. I was surprised she even let me take my shower on my own. She had shared the shower with me until I was nine and had told her to stop it or I would never take a another shower again. I lasted three weeks and she finally realized that I was serious. Its disgusting how much she wants to be involved with my life, almost like an obsessed person that has a very tight leash. I find it repulsing.

"Raven." My eyes snapped open and I came face to face with Batman.

"Bat-" his black gloved hand covered my mouth right when I had stopped talking. Rachel was in her room and would be checking in on me any second. I held up my finger and slowly moved away from him when he nodded and into my room. I quickly climbed into bed and faced my window. He was gone. I closed my eyes and pretended that I was asleep. I was expecting my door to open, but I had forgotten that I had locked it.

"Raven are you okay?" Rachel sounded nervous. I sighed and walked over to my door, faking tiredness and opened the door, flinching and closing my eyes tightly at the bright light.

"Aunty?" I asked and yawned.

"I am sorry sweetie. I was just checking on you but the door was locked so I didn't know if something was wrong."

"I am sorry aunty. The doorknob must have moved when I shut it. You know how it does that sometimes. I am sorry for worrying you..." I yawned again and closed my eyes, leaning against the door.

"I am sorry for waking you up. Holler if you need anything okay?" She asked and I nodded, said goodnight and closed the door. I turned back to my room, but I had already knew that Batman was no longer near my home. There was a note taped to my mirror though.

I walked over to it and opened it, reading;

_We have much to discuss. Meet me at the alleyway that starts on Wellington and goes through to Mathew street before 7 o'clock tomorrow morning._

_B  
_

__I nodded once and walked over to my window and ripped up the paper. I could tell that Rachel was in the living room watching TV. She was no where near a window and I knew that none of her guards were up at this hour. Why would they be if she was able to babysit me herself?


	4. Four

**Alfred**

"Seems Master Bruce is home early. I wonder what could have happened." I asked myself out loud, thinking about all of the possible scenarios. I sighed softly and grabbed my medical cart and wheeled it to the Batcave elevator. I walked over to the bat car and opened the door, finding something that I wasn't expecting. Master Richard was in the compartment instead of Master Bruce.

"Master Richard?" I asked slightly surprised. To my greatest happiness he started and moved, looking up at me. I frowned at the haunted look in his eyes, but didn't question it. Master Richard is a man of few words even now. I slowly helped him out of the car and over to his chair in the Batcave.

Master Bruce must have found him and bandaged him up. What could have happened, and Master Richard so unprepared. I knew that it was a depressing day for Master Richard, but he never goes anywhere without at least one weapon.

**Richard**

I opened my eyes and sat up. I remember Alfred guiding me over to a couch in the living room when he had made sure that I was physically stable. I put my elbows onto my knees and lay my head down on my hands. I had broke. I knew that now. Raven had taught me to control it shortly after the bond between us was made so that it would never happen again, but I wasn't strong enough to stop it.

_Of course you were strong enough to stop it, you just didn't know how this time._ Raven's voice sounded in my head. I sighed heavily and stood up. This was worse then I thought if I was hallucinating once again. It would just get worse over time and I would eventually die. I didn't have Raven this time to stop it.

_This isn't a dream or a hallucination Richard. It is very real. Rachel is an evil and vile creature that was made from my powers when I had defeated Trigon. There isn't much time. I am slipping and I am getting weaker all of the time. I am only a fragment of the Raven you knew. I can't tell you everything, most of it you just have to trust your gut like always, but don't trust Rachel and get Raven away from her as fast as you can._

"Wait!" I yelled, feeling her fading away. I knew it was hurting her to stay longer, but I had to tell her, even if I was dreaming. "I love you." I said and a warm feeling filled my heart while a cold feeling filled my head. The connection was no longer there.

"Master Richard?" Alfred said next to me. I turned to him and smiled slightly.

"I am sorry for startling you Alfred."

"Quite alright Sir." Alfred said guiding me back to the couch.

"Where is Bruce?" I asked him as he wrapped a blanket around me. I could feel myself slipping into a deep sleep, but I had to tell Bruce what I had heard from Raven.

"Right here Richard." Bruce said walking into the room. "What did you need?" he asked softly as he sat down gently by me. I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder. It was something that I had picked up in those times when I had began to trust him after 10 long years of living with him. I almost never did it anymore, but I knew that Bruce questioned if I even needed him anymore, but in all actuality, I needed him now more then I have ever before.

"You know how I told you of the connection between me and Raven? It showed itself again and she spoke to me. I knew it was just a ghost of her. A type of memory or feeling of her, but it was still her. She told me about Rachel. I had known she was a fragment of Raven even before she had told me. When she defeated Trigon, her powers erupted and she could barely control it. After that there had been someone in her mind that was never welcome, but never able to leave. It was the overload of power that caused Rachel to be created. I had only seen her once, but I knew... that she was dangerous. I had forgotten about her a few hours after that. I wasn't able to record it. Raven said through my connection that Rachel was and evil and vile creature and that we had to get her out of there as fast as we could. She left after that." I whispered and closed my eyes. It was the first time in a long time that I have fallen into such a deep sleep.

**Bruce**

"Well he was definitely more sane then the last time that I saw him. He was thinking with his head, which is what I needed to know he still knew how to do. I was worried about him back there. I don't know if what he said was true or not though." I said aloud and sighed. I gently pushed him off me and stood, laying him down on the couch.

"Keep an eye on him. I need to figure something out." I said and walked out of the living room. The hall was dark, so I turned on the light. It flickered slightly before it turned on. I walked to my room and into my privet wing of the house. Not even Alfred was able to come here. I walked over to the computer that was hooked up to both my Batcave, the police records, and my own privet laptop.

"I don't know why I didn't figure it out earlier." I said to myself as I sat in my tan leather chair. I propped my head in my hands with my elbows on the desk as I looking into the black screen of my computer.

Rachel Dawson. She was once my best friend, but when I first became the Batman, she was poisoned and had gone insane. Her mother had given the order for her to have no visitors. I haven't seen her for close to twenty years. I need to be updated on her whereabouts. I really hoped that it wasn't my Rachel keeping Raven captive.

I had known her mother quite well despite meeting her only once. I had met all of the titans at least once. Even if Richard was angry with me, that didn't mean I wasn't his adoptive father. Raven had found me actually. She had learned of this dark city and wanted to do good here. I could tell that she had been isolated where ever she had been before; I hadn't known at the time. She had wanted to work here, as a hero, but I had turned her away and told her to go to Robin, my former sidekick. I knew it was time for him to have his own team, so I had let him go, but told Raven to never tell him that I had sent her. She had told me her reasons for coming here to earth and I knew that Richard would be able to help her.

If Raven was anything like her mother, I owed her mother my life, and I would repay her in any way that I could. I had seen the conditions that Raven was living with in with her aunt. None of her furniture in her room matched and everything smelled faintly of garbage, meaning that everything that she owned, had been recovered by the means of dumpster diving, something that I had taken to when I disappeared for seven years. I knew the hardships that she was going through. I needed to gather information on Raven and her home life before I could take any action. The sooner Richard understood that, the better off we would all be.

I know what to do now. I smiled slightly and turned on my computer, signed in and contacted the people that I needed for this mission.

**3rd person  
**

Rachel sighed as she walked into her room and lay on her bed. A hand went to her stomach and she turned her head to see a masked figure. "What am I going to do with her?" Rachel whispered and brought her own hand up to the mask and pulled it off to revile her boyfriend.

"What did she do now?" he asked and pulling up her shirt and rubbing her stomach.

"She yelled at me and got tea everywhere." she said frowning. She turned on her side facing her boyfriend and moved closer to him.

"Richard saw her. I know now that we can stay here no longer. We have to leave in the morning. Raven has gotten defiant. She don't remember the beatings that I gave her when she was little, but I will fix that. If I have to start beating her and be the wicked stepsister again then I will." Rachel said and smirked, kissing her boyfriend.

"As you wish my mistress. I will get all of the supplies ready before morning."

**Morning**

**Raven**

"Get up." Rachel said in my doorway. She didn't sound happy. I frowned and got up, walked over to the door, but was slapped across the face. My eyes widened in shock. I held my cheek and looked up at Rachel. She looked like Rachel, but I knew she was not at the same time.

"Don't ever defy me like you did last night you bitch." Rachel growled out. She grabbed a fist full of my long black hair and yanked me to her. I stiffened and looked into her murderous eyes. "Get ready for school. You now have an escort." she yanked on my hair which sent me to the floor clutching my head, trying to get her grip to loosen just a little so that she wouldn't pull any of my hair out.

"Y-Yes Rachel." I said slightly out of fear because I have never seen her like this, but mostly out of pain. She has never hurt me mentally or physically until now. What the hell was going on?

"Good." Rachel said spitting on me. She kicked me in the side and I cried out in pain. The kick had such a strong force that it sent me rolling back into my room two or three times. I gripped my side and clamped my teeth together to keep from crying out again. I got onto all fours and coughed slightly. I looked at the doorway, my long black hair that still needed to be brushed, was covering most of my view, but I knew that she was no longer there.

I shakily got up and went to my closet. I got my school uniform that looks much like an anime school girls', definitely not my taste. It was black and red and has a cross on the sleeve. I quickly got it on and walked over to the tiny mirror on my door and brushed my hair. I gathered the hair on the crown of my head and made a pony tail. Imagine having a pony tail that is a forth of all of your gathered hair and you have my usual hairstyle. I went into the bathroom after checking to make sure that Rachel was not in my sights. More like I am not in her sights. She had acted like she was insane. I had seen a gleam in her eyes, meaning that she enjoyed hurting me. It frightened me. I don't get frightened often, like this city that most people say the devil created, has never frightened me. Rachel become abusive, frightened me more than anything.

I knew, somewhere deep inside my mind that what had just happened, wasn't going to be the last time. I knew it, somehow. I looked into the mirror and found no evidence that she had hit me, but it still hurt. I grabbed my tooth brush and brushed my teeth. I heard footsteps at the door and a knock. I froze.

"Hows my girl doing?" a male voice said on the other side of the door before it was kicked open. He's dead. I saw him die... No. I didn't see him die. My mother had. By going to Jump City, I had come across some of my mothers memories when I had walked past certain things. I knew they were not my own because of the energy surrounding the places. I had never been there before and I knew that Rachel didn't take me there because of that reason.

"We were going on a little trip you and I with your aunty, but she decided to change her plans when I walked into the door, so I am now your escort to school you little bitch. Grab your bag and lets get going." Slade said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the bathroom. As I was shoved past Rachel she held up her coffee cup in farewell, a sick grin on her face.

**Richard**

Beep

Beep

Beeeeeep

My eyes opened at the sound, but it was like I had never slept. My head was pounding. I rubbed at my eyes to get the tired feeling to go away, but it didn't. Sometimes you go to sleep thinking about something, wishing that when you wake up that you have forgotten, even for a moment. I didn't have that moment. I remembered everything from last night. I suppose it was better this way. When you forget something, but remember it a few moments later, it depresses you and you long to forget again, but it just makes it worse. You immediately lose that moment of joy. At least when you wake up remembering, there is no moment of joy.

"Master Richard." Alfred said at my door. He walked in and opened the curtains. The light was blinding. I hated it. In this dark city. This evil city, some people say, it was nice, more then nice to wake up to sun in the morning, but not today. The sane part of me, Nightwing, tells me that I have to wait and watch, just like always. The not so sane, Richard, who lost, and watched his parents die right in front of him, wanted to get Raven and bring her here as fast as possible. I knew in the end, Nightwing would win. He always does. Being in Jump, I had forgotten that it was best to be silent. Silent, Stealth and Deadly. I had learned that from Batman the first day I had met him. I didn't even know he was Batman at the time, but I had taken it to heart and practiced every chance that I got. I had forgotten because I didn't need to be silent. Everyone that I fought with my team was always loud and easily beatable. Everyone but Slade and Red X. We never did catch them. Slade was killed by Raven before she went missing.

Raven.

I got up and went to my bathroom where I took a shower and brushed my teeth. I walked over to my closet and got out my civilian clothing and put them on. Alfred was long gone by now so I knew that breakfast would be about done. I looked around my room and walked over to my window, looked outside and closed the curtains. They didn't need to be open today. It didn't make my room warmer anyway.


End file.
